The Kendall Chronicles
by Schen
Summary: "You saved me. And for that I will always be grateful. But if we are to work together again, you must promise me one thing." Keeper leaned forward. "Promise me never to become a Ranger." The story of Dino Charge, as told by the scientist who started it all.
1. The Discovery

It was moving.

It should not be moving. She was fairly sure that stones did not have heartbeats.

She squinted at the screen. "Carson, look at this."

No response. "Carson?" She turned to look at his workstation.

The engineer yawned and ran a hand through his hair. The effect was to contribute to the impression he always gave: that he had just rolled out of bed.

"Don't tell me. You found a strange reading. And you think it'll save our jobs from cancellation, our funding from getting demolished, and my wife from complete heartbreak." Carson's tone was lighthearted. "Morgan's developing a sense of humour! Who would've thought?"

Not for the first time, she wished that the lab contained any other form of intelligent life besides Carson whom she could talk to. Not for the first time, she was disappointed.

"Carson, I mean it. Look at these readings."

His eyes were still fixed on his computer, but there was a hint of a grin on his face. "Serious, aren't we? Okay, I admit it. The other day when your computer wasn't working? I may or may not have replaced your desktop background with a screenshot of itself and hidden all the desktop icons. I'm sorry. Actually I'm not, because it was hilarious, but I'll buy you a coffee. Now we're even. Can we get the joke over with now?"

Yeah, and she'd never guessed _that_ before, because there were just so many people in this top-secret government research lab who could have touched her computer apart from him. It had taken her half an hour to figure out what was wrong - including almost calling tech support - before she realised that the time on her onscreen clock wasn't changing. Thirty minutes' worth of federal taxpayers' money.

She was looking at something that might save their jobs, and Carson still thought she was joking. It was time to roll out the big guns.

"Carson, if you don't look at these readings right now, I'll tell everyone you sleep with teddy."

Finally a reaction. "First of all, his name is Bruce, not Teddy. And second - blackmail, Morgan? Really?" He spun his chair to face her. "You're acting really weird today. What's up?"

She sighed. "As I explained to you approximately sixteen times already, I need you to look at this reading."

"Lucky number seventeen for you then." As he rolled his chair to her workstation she silently congratulated herself. She'd never been good with people, especially not people like Carson. But one upside of working with him for so long was that she knew precisely how to press his buttons.

Long seconds passed as Carson studied her screen.

"Huh. That does look pretty weird." It was exactly the kind of professional diagnosis she expected from one of the top researchers in his field. "Think it's an Energy Gem?"

"A - what?"

"Energy Gem. You said we had to come up with a name before the big meeting on Monday."

Had she really asked him to name them? She couldn't recall, but then again she'd had a lot on her plate recently. Preparing for the presentation of a lifetime did that to a person.

"'Energy Gem'? How old are you, five?"

"Hey, _you_ suggested 'Paragon Prisms'."

Which was a perfectly serviceable name, far more so than 'Energy Gem'. "'Prism' is a scientifically accurate term to describe the quality of light refraction that these stones are likely to possess. And 'Paragon' - "

He waved her aside. "Morgan, Morgan, Morgan. You just don't get it." He shook his head pityingly. "You gotta think ahead. In the future, when we're rich and famous and people make TV shows about our lives, who's gonna be able to say 'Paragon Prisms'? You gotta think like a network executive. You make people say 'Kendall Morgan, famous for discovering the Paragon Prisms', they'll have switched to Nickelodeon before you finish."

So they got on each other's nerves. That much was clear. What was also clear was that as long as they had worked together, she had never seen readings like this. She hated admitting that she needed anyone's help, but if these readings were real, she would definitely need Carson's.

"Call them whatever you want. Will you just run the tests?"

Carson smirked, knowing he'd won. He gave her a ridiculous salute. "Aye aye, captain. The usual tests?"

"Commence scans for 780-622, 492-455, and 597-577 nm - "

"You mean Red, Blue and Yellow. Righto. Red, Blue and Yellow Energy Gems coming right up."

As he moved back to his workstation, she couldn't take her eyes off her preliminary scan results. The readings showed the right kind of energy, but they weren't steady like she'd expect from a stone. They were pulsing. Like whatever was giving off the signals was alive.

She had to know. She resisted the urge to start drumming her fingers as Carson began the scan.

After what seemed an eternity, there was a small ping. The results were back.

She approached his desk. "Well? Which one did we find?"

Carson turned to look at her, amazement on his face.

"All of them."


	2. Would You Like Gems With That?

Kendall didn't know what the bigger miracle was. That the signal was coming from somewhere just three hours' drive from HQ, or that Carson hadn't stopped complaining the entire journey.

"…so many better things to do on a Friday evening, you know? I could be spending time with my family. I could be catching up on the latest scientific journals. I could be repainting the bathroom wall."

She didn't take her eyes off the road. "Which bathroom wall? The one that's needed repainting since last October?"

"Duh. How many walls do you think my bathroom has?"

For the sake of his home's structural integrity, she hoped the answer would be "four". She gave a shrug he couldn't see in the darkness. "Just checking if it's the wall you could've repainted any time since then which is suddenly on top of your priority list."

"Exactly. See, you understand me perfectly. That's why we work so well together."

She had brought him along to replace the GPS, not the radio. "While you're ruminating on your priorities in life, could you also check that we're going the right way?"

He gave a cursory glance at the scanner in his hand. "Relax. We're on track to the middle of nowhere."

"And you're sure we brought everything? Ropes, helmets, torches - "

"Emergency parachute, shark repellent, extradimensional extractor. Chill, Morgan, we've done this a million times."

They had never done this before. Which was why their total number of stones found still stood at zero. "Wait, you brought our only prototype extractor?"

"Why not? The stones could be anywhere in the spatio-temporal matrix."

The phrase sounded above Carson's usual vocabulary level. "When you say 'anywhere in the spatio-temporal matrix', you mean…?"

He rolled his eyes. "Your thesis? 'We have definitively established the existence of a universal bioelectric grid. Our research also supports the hypothesis that there are naturally-occurring artefacts that can channel the incredible power of this grid. Such artefacts, if they exist, may be located anywhere in the spatio-temporal matrix. We are thus developing a prototype to detect artefacts hidden in sub-dimensions, and enable their interdimensional transfer into ours.'"

Her thesis. She must be having a bad day if Carson could quote her own thesis back at her. It seemed she had written it a lifetime ago: back when she was successful, admired, perfect. What had happened?

"This grid, it's universal right? There's like, twenty other teams who've used it. Why can't we get them to help us? Like those dudes from that underwater town?"

She had had this conversation with him before. "Mariner Bay's given us all the research they have. But their technology is fourteen years out of date."

He made a face. "Yeah, well, what about the rest?"

"What 'rest'? We've already approached all those who made their identities public. Andrew Hartford said he's retired, and Eric Myers…"

Eric Myers had used language she would not associate with a superhero. His wife had called back later to apologise, but she said she'd gotten off lucky. Kendall should've seen _her_ first time meeting Eric, when he'd given her a speeding ticket.

"Let's not talk about Eric Myers."

Suddenly the scanner bleeped. "You have reached your destination."

Carson whistled. "That's it? _This_ is the location of the first Energy Gem?"

She looked out the window. Before them was a single building, a solitary bright beacon in the sea of night. It hadn't been what she'd expected either, but…

"Carson, do you have a problem with McDonald's?"

He looked at her from the passenger seat. "Not at all. I am eternally grateful for Mr McDonald's contributions to American culture, and waistlines. Just that the first Energy Gems should be found somewhere cooler. Like an active volcano, or a glacial cave. Or would it be too much to ask for a dinosaur museum?"

They could be found in a gas station restroom for all she cared. If the gems were here, this would be the McDonald's that would make everything right again.

She was already collecting their equipment. "It doesn't matter. If it's a public area, we'll just have to be more discreet. Don't do anything to attract attention."

* * *

When she walked through the door she was certain there had been a mistake. It looked exactly like an ordinary fast food joint. At this time of the night there were no customers, just a single bored teenager manning the counter. Yet the scanner insisted there was something here.

Three somethings, in fact. She checked it again.

"You're reading it wrong." Carson grabbed the instrument from her. "Women and directions. Look, the signal's coming from over there."

He pointed at the kitchen door. The door that had a big sign saying "Authorised entry for staff only."

"And how are we supposed to get in there?" There might only be one person on duty, but he could hardly fail to notice both of them sneaking behind the counter.

"Easy. We create a distraction."

"A - what?"

"Look, there's only one guy here. One of us distracts him, the other one sneaks into the back. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." He winked.

This night was going from bad to worse. "Carson - "

Too late. He had already walked to the counter.

"Hi there. Can I get a Happy Meal with extra happy?"

She groaned and ducked beneath the counter, then hurried through the door. For once she was glad of her height, or lack of it.

Whatever his methods, Carson was right about one thing. The signal was getting stronger.

She felt her pulse increasing as she quickly checked all the rooms. Deep freeze, ovens, carton storage areas - no otherworldly stones.

Just the manager's office left. She pushed open the door.

Nothing.

She felt herself sag. Something was wrong with her scanner or extractor or both. They had tested and retested this technology, conducted months and months of research, all for no result. She stood still for a moment, unwilling to think about the magnitude of her realisation. How could she go back and face her superiors? How could she even go out and face Carson?

As she turned to leave there was a thump. Something far larger than any stone fell to the ground before her feet.

She took a step back, heart beating fast. She knew she was looking at her first real alien.


End file.
